


Three Ways It Might (Not) End

by grassyhyuuga



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-10 19:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grassyhyuuga/pseuds/grassyhyuuga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three possible endings to the series. Kakashi-centric.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Atonement

Kakashi would laugh, but his lung is punctured. (He manages a small chortle anyway.) How many times had he willed himself asleep in his youth, the steely promise settling on his tongue like blood?

(I will never kill myself I will never kill myself I will never kill myself I will never kill myself)

And yet, here he is.

The boy's eyes open slowly, as if this is their first time in the light.

_Irony's a bitch_ , he thinks. _Chiyo made it look so easy._ The last thing he sees is the glow of his hands fading.

Then, darkness.


	2. Red

The first time he realises something is _off_ he is nursing a papercut. A tiny welt of blood rises on his finger, and, unthinkingly, he pulls down his mask and licks.

He almost chokes on his own tongue, the taste cloying his senses with its wrongness.

_Blood is not supposed to be sweet._

The second time he is sparring. For a moment, he is distracted, and Obito's roundhouse kick catches him in the ribs. He braces himself for pain that doesn't come. His friend laughs, but the sound is oddly desperate.

The third time he can't stifle a scream. His father stares at him. All he can see is red seeping out under Sakumo's vest and red on his trousers and the sushi they made together is ashes in his throat.

Outside, the moon is redder.


	3. Grin

Kakashi returns from the other dimension with two red eyes. He shrugs off the medics who swarm toward him, giving Sakura a tight nod and slipping through them all. When Naruto bounds in his direction, an uncharacteristic soberness in his steps, he swerves sharply to avoid looking at the boy.

_It wasn't supposed to end like this._

He is selfishly thankful there are just as many dead bodies on the battlefield as live ones. It means that Naruto will not smile, will not smile the smile of a boy long dead, not for a while yet.

_If he does, I might just claw my eyes out._

 


End file.
